Advances in computing and networking technology have made new forms of media content possible. For example, virtual reality media content is available that may immerse viewers (or “users”) into interactive virtual reality worlds that the users may experience by directing their attention to any of a variety of things being presented in the immersive virtual reality world at the same time. For example, at any time during the presentation of the virtual reality media content, a user experiencing the virtual reality media content may look around the immersive virtual reality world in any direction with respect to both a horizontal dimension (e.g., forward, backward, left, right, etc.) as well as a vertical dimension (e.g., up, down, etc.), giving the user a sense that he or she is actually present in and experiencing the immersive virtual reality world from a particular viewpoint (e.g., vantage point) within the immersive virtual reality world.
In some examples, a virtual reality media provider may provide virtual reality content that includes an immersive virtual reality world representative of a real-world event (e.g., a sporting event, a concert, etc.) that may be taking place in real time (i.e., a live event). By tuning into a virtual reality broadcast of the real-world event, a user may experience the real-world event by looking around the immersive virtual reality world (e.g., the venue where real-world event is taking place) at will during the real-world event. However, traditional virtual reality media content may limit the user to experiencing the immersive virtual reality world from one or more static viewpoints within the immersive virtual reality world.
For example, the user may be free to look around the immersive virtual reality world in any direction from one or more static locations at the real-world event (e.g., static locations where creators of the virtual reality media content choose to position cameras capturing the real-world event), but the user may be unable to experience the immersive virtual reality world from other locations at the real-world event (e.g., locations where no camera is positioned). In many cases, some of the locations of most interest to users may be locations where cameras cannot be positioned without interfering with the real-world event (e.g., on the field of a sporting event, on stage at a concert, etc.). Accordingly, the static viewpoints may limit the freedom of the user to experience the real-world event from the most desirable viewpoints and/or may otherwise detract from the user experience in the immersive virtual reality world.